Independent neocon foreign policy nixed by Trump.

Neither Russia nor Turkey and Iran would expect a cooperative attitude from the American side in a near term over Syria. The US has a stony heart when it comes to Syria’s reconstruction – although it caused immense destruction in that country during its occupation. The US military will be leaving behind a trail of bitterness in Syria. The three other protagonists understood perfectly well that Pentagon commanders were fighting a secretive geopolitical war against each of them. “Good riddance” – that must be the refrain in Ankara, Moscow and Tehran.^[1]

Syria is part of the collection of U.S. excellent adventures in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and Libya that vindicated no U.S. national interest as a reasonably well-informed citizen would understand the meaning of “national interest.” Interests might have been vindicated but they had nothing to do with America’s interests.

The only reason Iran isn’t in that group is because we haven’t gotten around to mounting an overt attack on it. Yet. Acts of war like sanctions will just have to do for now.

Afghanistan seemed like an okay endeavor in view of its apparent involvement with the hijackers but the justification even for that seems thinner and thinner as questions about the official version of 9/11 are raised. Iraq's connection to 9/11 was, shall we say, thin.^[2] But all of a sudden Job Number One was to spend billions to teach the Iraqis how to live. Was that high on your to-do list too? And boy do I know stuff in that department. I'm sure they do in the C.F.R. and the Open Society Foundations as well.

The “nation building” mantra that immediately became the objectives in Afghanistan and Iraq was just asinine. No one could be that dumb or that arrogant, even American diplomats and politicians. Was that really what was demanded of American wonderfulness? A redo of Iraqi society? Or was that just distilled lunacy or was there some other dishonorable reason for our aggressive war on Iraq?

What America has been doing in these places and what European governments have been doing in Europe show a contempt for the citizens of America and Europe unsurpassed by decayed medieval monarchies or decayed Chinese empires. Examples of the latter polities are now joined by corrupt parliamentary democracies^[2]  and our unrepresentative republic in the pantheon of vicious, parasitic governments.

The left in America used to say “Not in our name.” I begin to think they were onto something. Trump has made the right decision in Syria and in ordering a draw down in Afghanistan but the closeness of his election, the outrageous “Resistance” to him, the facile arguments in favor of unconstitutional and aggressive war, the dishonesty of the hysteria about Russia, the lies about Iran being the chief sponsor of terrorism, our support for al-Qaida and ISIS in Syria, our lies about the crimes of Syria and its decent and honorable leader, and the fury of the borg state and its poodle media at this abandonment of mindless war are indicators of how deeply entrenched diseased elite politics are.

It’s not so much Make America Great Again as We Want Our America Back. We Want France Back. We Want Germany Back.

Notes
^[1] "US leaves trail of bitterness in Syria." By M.K. Bhadrakumar, Indian Punchline, 12/21/18.
^[2] The WMD angle had more to it in my mind despite the seemingly universal opinion that it was without any basis in fact. Saddam had earlier indeed sought to obtain uranium enrichment technology and clearly played games with outside weapons inspectors. It's just that it made no sense for us to be so suddenly hyper about nuclear proliferation when we were supposed to be smarting from low-tech Islamic terrorism.
^[3] Not all English monarchs were stupid. The Anglo-Saxon kings of England required frequent attendance at meetings of the shire where people could provide information on crimes and corrective action be taken. This was an effective way for the crown to find out how things were throughout the kingdom. I believe this was not abandoned by the Normans. Compare this to our practice of holding elections every two and four years to ascertain the same thing but with more ambiguous results. My cynicism impels me to say, "Like they care." Henry II solidified Norman rule by providing justice throughout the realm through a network of royal courts, which provided a justice superior to that rendered in the manorial courts. This was an inspired innovation. Not everyone born before 1700 was a fool and the universal franchise is not a guarantee of rational policy.